Tire-grip.



E. E. BURNS.

TIRE GRIP.

APPLIGATION FILED DEC. 4, 1909.

953,5 1 Patented Mar. 29, 1910.

EUGENE E. BURNS, OF HARTLEY, IOWA.

TIRE- GRIP.

' Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed December 4, 1909. Serial No. 531,474.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EUGENE E. Beans, a citizen of the United States,residlng at .Hartley, in the county of OBrien and State of Iowa, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Tire-Grips, of, whichthe following is a specification.

This invention relates to tire grips, and comprises partlcularly a'cha ngrip for use on automobile wheels, its pr1nc1pal.ob ect being to providea tire grip which. will prevent.-

skidding and which will enable the wheel to climb out of ditches andgutters, a. characteristic feature being the provision of Y- shapedcross chains so arranged that two sec tions of the chain will be incontact with the ground at all times. This result is produced by makingthe junction of the branches of the Y at or about the tread line of thetire, whereby the chains forming the angle are both in contact with theground, and both act to resist lateral or longitudinal slip of thewheel.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which-Figure l is a side view of a part of an automobile wheel provided withthe improved grip. Fig. '2 is a plan view of a part of the grip. Fi 3 isa perspective view of the fastening device.

Referring specifically to .the drawings, 6 indicates the longitudinal orside chains which extend around opposite sides ofthe rim as usual. Thecross chains or chain sections consist of one piece of chain 7 whichextends diagonally across between the side chains, and another chainsection 8 which is located at an angle to the piece 7 and is joined atone end to one of the side chains and at the other end to a link in thechain 7, the junction with the latter being made slightly beyond themiddle thereof, forming a substantially Y-shaped structure, with thefork of the Y located slightly to one side of the middle line of thetread, whereby the two chains forming the branches of the Y are incontact with the ground at the point on which the wheel rests. As shownin Fig. 2, the cross chains are oppositely arranged, in alternation withthe stem or single part of the Y connected to the opposite side chains,whereby the angles of the Y are presented toward opposite sidesalternately.

For connecting and fastening each of the side chains I use the deviceshown particuthe chain. 'tener is a hook 12, offset laterally orsidewise larly in Fig. 3, consisting of a curved rod 9 bent inwardly atone end, as indicated at 10, toward the curved part of the rod,and'terminating at the extremity in a loop 11 which is hooked throughthe last link at one end of At the opposite end of the fas- Patented.Mar. 29, 19 10."

from the rod, and at the end of this hook is a part 13 bent up to form afinger the purpose of which is to prevent disengagement of the hook fromthe hnk 1n which it is engaged.

In the use of the fastener the end with the hook 12 is slipped throughthe appropriate link at the end of the chain to be drawn up, and then itis swung back toward the other end of the chaiIg-forming a lever to drawand take up the sla'ck in the chain, the link slipping down al'o'ng therod 9 into the hook 10. Then, the freeendjofythe fastener is insertedthrough one of the links in the chain 6, engaging said link in the hook12, with the projecting finger l3 engaged beside the link, and in thisposition it actsto prevent the hook 12 slipping out of the link, even ifthe chain be made slack. To disengage the hook, it is necessary to turnor twist the fastener so that the finger 13 will slip through the linkinreverse direction.

This fastener is simple and efficient, and permits all slack to bequickly taken up, and requires no tools for its manipulation. Theconnection and disconnection can be quickly performed, and pull on thechain has little or no tendency to disconnect the fastening. It can beengagedeither with the end link of the chain or with any link near theend according to the looseness of the parts.

What I claim as new is A tire grip comprising side chains, and crosschain members thcrcbetween, each of said members comprising one piece ofchain connected atits opposite ends to the side middle point thereof,whereby both pieces will contact with the ground at the middle line ofthe tire tread.

In testimony whereof, I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

EUGENE E. BURNS. Witnesses:.

HARRY BRODERS, J. H. Bonnnwmn.

